Archie Manning, with Peyton after the AFC title game, said he hasn't talked to him about retirement. Photo Credit: Getty Images / Doug Pensinger

HIGHLIGHTS

Won’t give his son advice on retirement

But will tell him to keep faith and have fun

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Archie Manning is going to have a talk with his son.

The patriarch of football’s first family told reporters outside the winning locker room after the Broncos’ 24-10 victory over the Panthers on Sunday night in Super Bowl 50 that he expects to have a candid, emotional conversation with Peyton Manning in the coming weeks.

“I want to hear his side of it first,” he said. “I would never tell Peyton what to do, what not to do. And he knows. If he wants to play football, if he’d like to go to another team, he’ll be 40, I don’t know.

At 39, Peyton Manning became the oldest quarterback to start a Super Bowl. And he did it in a very unconventional style. The team was led by its defense and its running game, which are aspects that he rarely enjoyed during earlier runs to this point in his career.

There also were obvious physical hurdles for Manning. He missed time with a foot injury, spent time on the scout team and was even the backup quarterback for a brief stretch of time. All of those, Archie was quick to point out, were firsts for him.

“Through it all, the best I can tell, he remained a good team player and tried to make a contribution,” Archie said.

And Sunday night it resulted in a second Super Bowl title, a shower of confetti and perhaps the greatest sunset to a career any player can imagine.

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Yesterday morning, before the game, Archie appeared at a promotional event along with his son Eli, the quarterback of the Giants, and a close friend, Brett Favre. Archie had followed Favre’s career along with his sons’, and on Saturday night, he saw the Mississippian elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That, Archie said, was when the reality of this being the “last rodeo” — as Peyton called the possibility two weeks ago — began to sink in.

“We had fun, but thinking of Brett going into the Hall of Fame and Peyton at this stage, I got a little emotional,” Archie said. “It’s more about being proud, though, than anything.”

Proud enough to know he should step out of the way when it comes to such a personal decision.

“I don’t give him advice. He’s 40 years old,” he said. “He’s played so much more football than me. I always tell him to keep the faith and have fun.”